Matt Patricia’s Interview with the Lions will reportedly happen this weekend.

Patriots defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia has been the leading candidate for the Detroit Lions job by buzz alone ever since it looked like there may have been a coaching vacancy. But Patricia wasn’t among the Lions’ first interviews for a job, and, in fact, there hadn’t been any reports of a scheduled interview with Patricia three days into the search.

But it appears that Patricia will eventually get his interview in Detroit. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, that interview will come sometime this weekend:

Interesting to note here is that it looks like the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals will get first crack at Patricia, as they’ll interview him Friday and Saturday respectively. Though teams want the hiring process to move quickly, it’s still very likely that Detroit will still get an interview after those two teams get a look.

What’s also of note is that there is no reported interest in the other Patriots’ coordinator, Josh McDaniels. Many included McDaniels in their candidate list for the Lions, seeing as his offensive mind could help Detroit kick their talented roster to the next level. But questions about McDaniels’ temperament, considering his disaster as head coach of the Broncos, may be too much for the Lions to bear.

As of now, Patricia will be the Lions’ sixth interview for the job. They have already interviewed Teryl Austin, Jim Bob Cooter and Mike Vrabel. On Thursday, they will be reportedly interviewing both Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Packers assistant head coach/linebacker coach Winston Moss.

Keep up to date on all news and rumors surround the Detroit Lions head coaching candidates with our 2018 head coach tracker.